


someone to watch over me

by mistyheartrbs



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, On the Run, Team as Family, benevolent old lady angie takes in six weird kids and their dinosaur, in which gert is all of us, is it a crossover if they all exist in the same universe?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 14:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13638516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistyheartrbs/pseuds/mistyheartrbs
Summary: It was inevitable that the six of them would end up here, in this cul-de-sac at the house of some old woman who seemed far friendlier than she ought to have been.





	someone to watch over me

**Author's Note:**

> "misty it's been three years why don't you get over it" believe me i'd like to, and it'd give me great pleasure to ignore the mess that was agent carter s2, so when runaways came along and with it came the amazing, wonderful, heartwarming deanoru pairing i knew what i had to do. which was to write.

There were three rules written up inside one of the windows of the van in slowly fading Sharpie, and it was easy to tell when the marker had started to give out for the way its strokes became harsher, more jerky. The handwriting wasn't very easy to make out unless you stared up at that window for hours on end, which was precisely what the six of them often found themselves doing. The radio ran warnings about five errant kidnappers a few times a day, so that was written off. Sometimes they tried to play little games, drill up some chatter, but mostly it gave way to a shared silence. In any case, the rules made themselves known every time anyone looked to their right. 

_1\. We need a lookout every night._

This was obvious enough - they were being pursued, with _Wanted_ posters plastered up everywhere and the radio crackling with demands for them to come home, so making sure that someone was on watch while the others slept was a given. It was an unspoken decision amongst everyone to exempt Karolina from this one, considering her liability to turn into a literal glowing beacon, but she still stayed up most nights anyway. 

(Molly was also exempt from this rule after she got startled about a week into the road trip from hell and accidentally punched a hole in the van's roof.) 

(She started a little club with Karolina after that, the Useless Night Watch Club. They had a secret handshake.) 

_2\. NO PDA!!!_

This was again an obvious rule to them all - a state like theirs, with six teenagers, two couples among them, plus a dinosaur, all cramped together in a patchy old church van that now had a poorly duct-taped hole in the roof, certainly didn't present an ideal living situation for any of them. Nobody wanted to be the one to say something mushy and make everyone want to get out of the close quarters, hence the number of exclamation points. 

Still, sometimes it couldn't be helped. Much like how kids pick out their desks on the first day of school and stay there for the rest of the year, sleeping conditions were the same each night. Karolina, sleeping towards the middle so her lights wouldn't be so obvious if they were to start up again. Nico, the world's tiniest big spoon, curled around her. Gert and Chase, leaning against each other with Old Lace as a pillow and Molly nestled close to them. Alex tended to sleep close to the front. Anyone who took a glance inside the van would know where things stood between everyone. 

_3\. NO contact with the outside world unless we REALLY HAVE TO DO IT. People are looking for us._

And then there was the last rule, the one that filled everyone with dread and reminded them of the reason they'd started to run in the first place. It could've been worse, certainly - they had each other, and a built-in family wasn't the most awful thing to have, but it got lonely once in a while. Grocery runs consisted of one person rushing into a gas station in the middle of the night and grabbing as much cheap junk food as they could before ringing it up with a cashier who was either too tired to notice the resemblance to the missing kids or was too tired to care. It made them feel like exiles. 

Everyone followed it, anyway. They were too afraid not to. 

***

It had been maybe three weeks since they'd started running - nobody was really keeping track of time anymore - and it was raining hard enough to paint all the fields and roads and trees in gray, pattering so loudly against the van that it was nearly deafening. 

"Hey, Alex, can you even see through this?" Nico asked, hanging over the passenger seat. Not sitting in it, mind you - that was Gert's position at the moment - but instead leaning up against it, mostly just to be a nuisance. Considering how well the last thing she'd done to spite him had turned out, a little bit of friendly annoyance didn't hurt anyone. 

"I don't think I've seen rain like this in years." Karolina pressed her hand up against the window, smiling a little at it. "It's pretty." 

"It's a nuisance, more like," Gert muttered. Karolina couldn't feel it from her spot in the van, but rain was starting to drip through the loosely patched hole in the roof. Duct tape didn't always hold up very well. Old Lace huffed in agreement. 

"Any chance we can waive the 'no contact' rule for a night?" Nico wondered, now leaning against the back door. She moved awfully fast when nobody was looking. "If nothing else, we should probably stop for now." 

"We don't know who's on our parents' side," Gert argued. "Eyes everywhere." 

"We could try finding some trees to shelter under," Molly offered. 

"Okay, okay." Alex let out a sigh that probably meant he was relenting and started for a cluster of old oaks just off the highway. The rain made everything darker, it seemed, and nobody in the group could make heads or tails of where they were actually headed or how many trees they could be ramming into. 

This was how they ended up in a cul-de-sac. 

"Well, this was a mistake," Nico deadpanned, surveying the scene around them. The van had lodged itself firmly in a spot of mud. "Any chance we can get out of here without anyone noticing?" 

"It looks like an old people neighborhood. They're probably all asleep by now." 

"We still need to tread carefully." 

"Pfft, 'tread carefully?'" Gert snorted. "We're not in a spy flick. If we just back up the van a little bit, nobody's going to notice." It was at that moment that Old Lace whacked the back door with her tail and sent it flying open, exposing them all to the howling winds and the rain making its way in. Karolina grimaced.

 _"Who's out there?!"_ an old woman's voice croaked as one of the porch lights switched on. 

"Shit." 

_"You'd better tell me who's making that noise or I'm calling the police!"_

"We could make a break for it," Karolina whispered, holding Nico's arm so tightly a small part of her worried that she'd leave a mark. 

_"I may be old, but I'm not getting robbed tonight!"_

"We don't mean any harm!" Chase called out. 

_"You're kids?"_

"Yeah!" Karolina yelled, still holding onto Nico's arm. Warily, she started to slide out of the van. "We're just kids. Harmless kids." Nico slipped her hand down and held Karolina's tightly in her own. It was warm, and surprisingly soft for how long all of them had been on the run. Karolina suspected that she would've enjoyed the moment more if it wasn't pouring rain and there was a potentially dangerous old woman outside. Molly poked her head out of the back of the van, and Gert and Old Lace quickly followed. To an outsider, they must've looked like some strange version of a _Scooby-Doo_ cartoon. 

"Get ready to make a break for it," Nico whispered, nearly an echo of what Karolina had said just a few seconds prior. Karolina nodded.

 _"You're just . . . kids?"_ It was a wonder they could hear the old woman at all through the rain. Karolina cautiously hopped down onto the gravelly street, edging her way forward towards the porch light. _"Well, geez. Why didn't you just say so? Come on in, you'll catch your deaths out here!"_

"It could be a trap." Nico's voice was low, almost fearful. 

"She's a sweet old lady, she's not gonna hurt us." Molly hopped out, and Old Lace followed her. With a resigned sigh, Gert, Alex, and Chase all went too. 

"Oh, there're six of you?" Karolina could see her, now, stooped over on her doorstep with a came in her hand. The elderly woman surveyed the group in front of her with a critical eye, and for a moment the tension in the rainy air was palpable until she finally spoke. "That's one weird-looking dog." 

***

_"There's a saying old, says that love is blind . . ."_

An old turntable spun in the center of the woman's living room, filling it with the crackling music.

_"Still we're often told, seek and ye shall find . . ."_

It was nearly instinctive, the way that all six of them (plus Old Lace) huddled together. Even as the old woman strutted forward and hummed softly to herself, looking like the most harmless thing in the world, still there was a tension in the air. 

"She seems okay," Karolina whispered, but even as she spoke the words aloud they felt hollow, uncertain. Nico squeezed her hand. 

"We're still close to the door," she replied, probably meaning to sound comforting. Molly scoffed at the both of them. 

"She's, like, _ninety,"_ she said. "She'd probably fall over if the wind hit her the wrong way. You two don't need to be so paranoid." 

_"Only man I ever think of with regret . . ."_ The record on the turntable kept spinning.

"You kids must be starving. Do you want something to eat? I have some bread in the cupboard - it's a bit stale but you're living in a van so I guess you don't care much, right?" The old woman paused to look back at the group. "Oh! I haven't even introduced myself, have I? Seems my manners have slipped away with my age, haha!" She smacked her knee as she laughed, like it was the funniest thing in the world. "Anyway, Angela Martinelli, at your service." 

"Thank you for letting us stay here, Ms. Martinelli," Chase said. The woman looked at him strangely for a moment, then burst into laughter again. 

"Call me Angie, please!" she guffawed. "Ms. Martinelli makes me sound like some stuck-up old lady." 

"Okay . . . Angie." Karolina cautiously stepped forward, still holding Nico's hand. "You're really okay with taking in six stray kids?" Old Lace knocked over a vase with her tail. Gert quickly shuffled over to block Angie's line of vision. "And a . . . another kid?" 

"Mm-hmm." Angie hobbled over to her stove, picking up a teakettle and starting to whistle to herself. "Doesn't bother me at all. Go and make yourselves comfortable, I'll have something ready that'll warm you all right up." Tentative, Karolina settled down on the soft reddish couch. It creaked beneath her weight. Nico sat beside her. 

"What're you so worried about?" she murmured, voice low and gravelly. Karolina's grip on her bracelet tightened. "If anything, I should be the one worrying about _you."_

"She's an old lady. I don't need to sacrifice myself for us to be okay." 

"Really? Because you've been fidgeting this whole time." Karolina let go of the bracelet. 

"I'm okay, Nico." 

"Something else bothering you, then?" 

"I'm okay," Karolina repeated. Whether or not that was true was still up for debate in her head. Nico scooted a bit closer to her. "But while we're here, maybe we should talk about-" 

"Is that _Peggy Carter?"_ Gert pointed to an old photograph on the mantle, worn and flimsy from age but protected in a glass frame. Two women smiled at the camera. Gert looked from the photo to Angie, humming over the teakettle, back to the photo again. "You knew _Peggy Carter?"_

"Hate to ask, but who's that?" Nico sat up to get a closer look, still not leaving the couch. Gert stared at her in disbelief. 

"You've never heard of her?" 

"Here we go," Molly sighed. 

"She was a codebreaker in World War II, she helped found S.H.I.E.L.D, and her influence spread across _decades."_ Gert had that sort of faraway, dreamy look in her eyes that none of them had really been able to muster up in the past weeks, with everything that'd happened. "She was a hero." Old Lace nudged the photograph with her snout, earning her a push back to the center of the room. Gert looked back at Angie again. "You knew her?" 

"You could say that." The turntable stopped spinning as Angie hobbled over with a platter of six mismatched teacups. From the way she sadly smiled a little at the floor, Karolina couldn't help but feel like she wasn't getting the whole picture. "Sorry if it tastes like crap, tea's never been my kinda thing. I'm more of a schnapps gal myself." Angie blinked, shaking her head slowly. "But I can't really give that to teenagers, can I?" 

"This is fine." They all took the teacups with varying, mumbled versions of _thanks_ while Angie sat back, pleased. 

"Anyway, what brings you kids out here in Nowheresville suburbs? I can't imagine there's anything interesting going on that'd lead you here." A twinkle appeared in Angie's eye, the same kind that children would imagine Santa Claus to have, something both old and innocent. "Unless . . . you're running from something." The six of them froze up, and Gert leaned on Old Lace for support. She looked just about to faint. Angie stepped closer, prodding at Alex with her cane. "Is that it? Ooh, are you spies?" 

"We're not," Karolina blurted out. "Not spies. Nope. Just some totally normal kids living in a van for totally normal reasons." It wasn't a lie, at least. 

"You're pretty bad at this," Nico whispered. 

"Hrm." Angie folded her arms, clicking her tongue, disbelief plain on her face. "Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. It gets a little lonely up here, you know." 

"Thank you." 

"Hah, don't mention it. If anything, you're doing _me_ a favor. I haven't had anything this exciting happen to me since . . . well, you all look like you've had a long day, I doubt anyone would wanna hear an old bat's tales, would you?" Gert straightened her back so suddenly that her teacup jostled. 

"I would!" Angie blinked. 

"You would?" 

"How'd you know Peggy Carter?" 

"Oh, you want to know about English?" Angie's features softened as she eased herself onto a chair. It occurred idly to Karolina that she owned a lot of furniture for someone who lived alone. "You'd be here all night." 

"That's okay." Gert seemed to hang onto her every word. 

"Well, she certainly had a bit of a hero's complex about her. Always going off on secret missions at her 'phone company' - pah, we both knew it wasn't a phone company." 

"The SSR," Gert breathed. 

"I don't think she ever wanted me getting tangled up in all that. There was this one time she left for L.A and stayed there for six months, without a phone call or anything. I was _convinced_ she'd up and left me for good, or gotten kidnapped or murdered or something of the like, but then she showed back up at our door like no time had passed at all." 

"Wait, you two lived together?" Nico asked, sneaking a glance back at the photograph. Angie nodded. 

"We were roommates. Oh my God, we were roommates. Lived together for years and years, even though she moved around a ton. Disappearin' for months on end, that was how English rolled. She never wanted me to get hurt." 

"I guess you two cared about each other a lot," Karolina murmured. Angie smiled at her. 

"We sure did." She rocked back and forth in the chair, closing her eyes for a moment. "Even if we didn't get to spend as much time together as I'd have liked. Appearances, you know. She had to marry that Sousa fellow to keep up her image. He never minded us, but it sure put a dent in everything. Even after he died and the media left Peg alone, there was that underlying feeling of . . . I don't know." 

"Why didn't I ever learn about this?" Gert leaned forward, chin in her hands. Angie looked at her strangely. 

"'Cause we never told anyone. Even after she passed, it wasn't like I could just come out and go 'hey, it's me, Peggy Carter's lesbian lover!' A ninety-six-year-old failed Broadway starlet saying that kinda thing? It'd never fly, even in today's world. Nobody's believe me, and then they'd brand me as a loon and send me off to some old folk's home." The room went silent, save for the patter of the rain outside. 

"Oh." Karolina started fidgeting with her bracelet again. Abruptly, she stood up and started for the closest flight of stairs. "Thanks again, Ms. Martinelli." 

"Angie. It's Angie. The guest bedroom's right up there - there's not too much room, I'm afraid, but it's bigger than a van." Karolina nodded and hurried up the staircase, not stopping until she found herself in a dusty room that looked like it hadn't been used in years. She flicked on the light switch, and what awaited her was a pair of twin beds with one pullout couch pushed up haphazardly against one corner. Nico appeared at her side, soon followed by the others. 

"It's bigger than a van, at least," Karolina managed out. Molly dove onto one of the beds, grinning as the springs squeaked. 

"I call dibs on this one!" she yelled. Gert joined her. "It feels like it's been forever since I slept on something other than the van's floor." Despite herself, despite the unease that still seemed to float around them, Karolina hopped onto the other bed. She tried not to blush when Nico sat down beside her. "Sorry, boys!" Molly chirped, but she didn't sound particularly apologetic. "You snooze you lose. I'm sure the couch's comfy, too." Old Lace grunted. 

"We should probably get to sleep before _Angie_ looks at the news and finds out we're all on the Most Wanted list," Nico grunted, nestling herself under the covers. She looked at the pillows while she spoke. Everyone nodded, curling up on their beds while Old Lace settled onto the carpet. Alex flicked off the light before joining Chase on the most certainly too-small-for-two-fully-grown-people pullout couch. Karolina breathed in the musty scent of the sheets. Even if they hadn't been washed in possibly years, even if she still felt uneasy about the whole thing, the bed felt (and smelled) infinitely better than a van packed with five other teenagers and an entire dinosaur. 

"I still don't get why we can't stay here," Chase said. "She's a nice old lady, if we explained everything she'd probably find a way to get the evidence out and land us . . . away from our parents." 

"He has a point," Alex added. 

"Yeah, and then she'd get herself killed in the process," Gert retorted. Karolina could imagine her glare even in the darkness of the room. "Listen, I want to stay here more than any of you, probably. And she knew _Peggy Carter,_ I'm sure that she's had her fair share of danger, but this is too much." 

"We still don't know if she's even who she says she is," Karolina added. She could feel Nico shifting next to her, moving to a sitting position. "We should leave tomorrow morning." 

"I think she's fine," Nico said. "We'll stay here until we get back on our feet, alright? Just for a few days. If she did try to pull anything, it's not like she'd be able to do much, between the dinosaur and the glowing lights." Karolina smiled a little to herself, her skin prickling. Her bracelet itched. "Old lady, remember? I think we're okay." Nobody tried arguing with her, after that. Molly was already asleep, her silhouette's frame rising and falling with her breath. Old Lace curled up at the foot of the bed, the world's weirdest watchdog. "Get some sleep," Nico added, an afterthought that left no room for argument. 

***

Karolina woke up sometime later that night, after a dream that she couldn't recall for the life of her jolted her awake. 

"Nico?" she murmured, reaching out for the other girl out of habit more than anything, and stiffened when her hand came into contact with empty air. "Nico?!" 

_"And_ then, _she raised her eyebrows in that way only she ever could, and she said 'I think_ this jerk _quite fancies you,' but she wasn't talking about the guy."_ A voice, distant and loud, wafted through the slightly opened door. Karolina slid carefully out of the bed, taking one last glance at everyone else. Molly was still curled up in the fetal position, snoring gently. Gert was still sleeping with quiet, incomprehensible mumblings peppering her breaths. Old Lace flicked her tail back and forth as she dreamed about whatever it was that dinosaurs dreamed about. Karolina noticed with a chuckle that Chase and Alex had all but fallen off the pullout couch, then took another deep breath. 

_"She wasn't very subtle, was she?"_ Another voice, most definitely Nico's, rang through. 

_"Oh, no, not at all, but I was a bit of an idiot."_

_"You were?"_ Karolina carefully edged herself along the wall, keeping her hand on her bracelet. 

_"It took me less time to realize that she was a spy than it took to realize she was into me!"_ She snuck a glance down the stairs to see Angie sitting across from Nico in one of her many chairs, laughing and grinning a toothless grin. 

"Nico?" she said, before she could stop herself. Angie looked up with surprising speed for someone her age.

"Hmm? Oh, hello. Did we wake you?" 

"No, it's fine." Karolina walked down the stairs and sat down, awkwardly, next to Nico. "I just woke up and you weren't there so I kind of-" 

"Assumed the worst?" Nico finished. Karolina nodded. 

"I thought you'd been kidnapped or something." 

"I think Gert's dinosaur would've caught onto that before I did. Besides, I can defend myself."

"I know." Karolina pressed a kiss to her forehead, forgetting for a moment where they were. That was what Nico did to her, she supposed. "I'm still allowed to worry, though." 

"It's like looking into a mirror," Angie sighed. Karolina and Nico both turned to look at her, untangling themselves and scooting to opposite ends of the couch. "What? You're sweet kids, and I think you'll go pretty darn far in this world if I do say so myself. Things're changing so fast I feel like I'm never going to catch up." The photograph still sat on the mantle, lit by a vintage wall fixture that shone down on it like something from the heavens. Angie stared at it again. "Here I am, prattling along like some crazy old hag. What'd you say if you could see me now, Peg? 'Quit taking in strays, Angie. We don't have any room.' Probably something like that." 

"Should we-" 

"No, no, stay here. It's quite alright, just reminiscing a bit." Angie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and for a terrifying few seconds Karolina was afraid she was dying. "Me and English, we weren't perfect, but we sure were something." 

"Are you okay?" 

"Hmm? Yep, I'm fine." Angie stood up and patted Nico on the shoulder with a bony hand, then turned and did the same thing to Karolina. "Take care of each other, alright?" 

"We will," Nico murmured, wrapping her hand around Karolina's. Even now, it sent a pleasant warmth through her, just like when she was glowing, when everything felt perfect. 

"That reminds me of something, actually." Karolina reached for her bracelet and took a deep breath. "Hey, Angie, can you promise not to freak out?" 

"I once lied to federal agents in my own apartment. There's not much I _haven't_ seen over the course of this life of mine." 

"Okay." A quiet _click_ seemed to echo through the room, and a few seconds later it was lit by a kaleidoscope of soft colors, lights dancing around as Karolina held out her hands. Angie blinked, then smirked to herself. 

"Well, that sure is something." 

"You're not-" 

"I just said it, didn't I? Nothing surprises me anymore." The rain, insistent as it ever was, kept rattling the house. "You two should get some sleep. I don't know much, but I think you've been through a lot." 

***

"Nico?" Karolina flipped over to face the other girl later that night, pushing her hair out of her eyes. The cold bracelet seemed to weigh her down. 

"Hrm?" 

"I don't think we can stay here." 

"Why not?" Nico wriggled closer. "You trust her, that's obvious enough." 

"Yeah, I know, and that's . . . that's why. What if our parents track us down here? What if she gets caught in the crossfire?" 

"That's what it is? You self-sacrificing types, you can sense each other or something?" 

"I guess." Karolina wondered idly, in that way sleepy people often did, about things unrelated to the conversation at hand. She wondered when the last time was that someone had slept in this bed. She wondered what Peggy was like as a person. She wondered what would happen in the morning. "I'm not leaving again, Nico. I'm not leaving any of you." 

"I'd hope so." Nico kissed her, soft and sweet and a little messy for the lack of lighting, and it felt like she was floating again. 

***

All six of them probably would've slept in for hours on end if allowed - dusty and stiff as the old beds were, they also felt _homey,_ and worlds better than the van, not to mention the distinct lack of motion. Karolina would've been content to stay in that bed forever, with Nico wrapped around her and retaining her title of the world's smallest big spoon, but unfortunately the resident velociraptor made that significantly harder when she started headbutting the door.

"Hey, Lace, don't . . . do that." Gert fumbled for her glasses and sleepily beckoned at her. "Don't mess up Peggy Carter's door." Old Lace snorted in response, then reluctantly curled back up on the floor. "You have to stay in here, okay? She can't see you." 

"I think she'd be fine with it, actually." Karolina sat up, trying (and failing, mostly) to ignore Nico's _adorable_ grumbling noises of protest. "We had a, uh, feelings session last night? Which I guess was really this morning, but I haven't seen a clock in weeks, I don't even know what _day_ it is, so there's that. Anyway, she knows I'm a walking pride flag." 

"Oh." 

"But I was thinking, we probably should-" 

"Hey! Kids!" Angie yelled from downstairs, her voice raspy yet surprisingly loud. "I made some breakfast!" Karolina looked to Chase and Alex, who shrugged from their positions on the floor. "Come down here while it's still hot!" 

"We're coming!" Karolina called back. Nico stirred, slowly blinking her eyes open. 

"What's going on?" 

"We're having breakfast, apparently." 

***

After an awkward period of shuffling around, waking each other up, and quiet arguing, the group made their way downstairs to find a table laid out with platters of bread burnt to a crisp, with Angie sitting at the head and looking very pleased with herself. The turntable spun around as an old song filled up the room. 

"I haven't made anything for other people since my waitressing days - English never did like to stay home for dinner - so it's probably not too great." 

"It's . . . wow." 

"Now, I don't know what's going on, and in reality I don't really know why I got it in my head that it's my duty to take in six weird kids who showed up in the middle of the night sopping wet in a spooky van, but this is the most fun I've had in years!" As she talked, Angie spread some jam on her toast, moving the bread instead of the knife. "Besides, it's not like I have much time left anyway, do I? It doesn't really matter what happens." Her eyes clouded over, the hand with the bread in it pausing for a moment. "All I'm saying is that you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like."

"That's . . . that's really nice of you." Karolina felt a pit in her stomach. "I'll have this later, yeah? I'm still not really awake yet." 

"Of course, of course. I'm afraid I don't have much to entertain you all with - it's not like I've got video games or whatever lying around, but there's a radio and a TV in the living room. I'll be off taking a nap, yell if you need anything." Still carrying the toast and the knife, Angie waved and hobbled off. 

"I, erm, I think we're going to go and take a nap, too!" Karolina called after her. Alex looked at her strangely. "Up in the guest room! We're all really tired." All eyes were on her, now, and she stood up with her hands pressed down on the table. The plates clattered. "Let's go." 

***

"We have to leave." It wasn't the dead of night, some hasty plan to hop in a van and escape with hearts pounding. There'd been enough of those times for all of them. Instead, it was a sunny morning in the house of a sleeping old lady in some little suburb, and that somehow made it all the worse. 

"Why?" Molly bounced in place a little bit, still reveling in the springs of the bed. "You like her. We all like her. She doesn't even know who we are, so it's not like she's about to call our parents on us." 

"Yeah, and that's it." The bracelet itched again, and Karolina resisted the urge to take it off. "We can't put her through any of that." 

"They'll find us," Nico added. She rested her head on Karolina's shoulder, a comforting weight. "Eventually. We all know it." 

"We could probably fight them off with our . . . you know, powers and gadgets and dinosaur and everything, but she can't." The bed creaked as Karolina folded her knees to her chest. "And I think she'd try." 

"She's too much like you." Nico let a rare smile grace her lips, sitting up to cup Karolina's face in her hands. "Risky and sweet and kind of amazing." 

"Hey, hey, I think we're forgetting about one of the rules, here!" Molly groaned. "God, you two are so mushy. It's gross." 

"She knew Peggy Carter," Gert feebly argued, but there wasn't much force behind her words. "She'd have known how to defend herself." Old Lace lifted her head, blinking those wide, bulbous eyes. The beds were warm - so wonderfully warm - but there was a sort of _knowing_ that slipped through the group's consciousness. 

Karolina wasn't quite sure why she felt like she was about to cry.

***

It wasn't like there were many belongings for them to pack up - everything else was still in the van, probably damp from the rain - but nobody wanted to be the first to leave. 

_"There's a somebody I'm longing to see . . ."_

The turntable, reliable as ever it seemed, still spun around and around with the same song that'd played the previous night. 

"Thanks, Angie," Karolina murmured, wrapping her hand in Nico's. "Those were the best twelve hours we've had in a while." 

_"I hope that he turns out to be . . ."_

"We'll come back for her," Gert insisted, taking another look at the photograph on the mantle. "Once everything quiets down and we can show our faces again."

"Yeah." The six of them looked back at the room, and Karolina squeezed Nico's hand one more time before stepping out the door and into the unknown.

_"Someone to watch over me . . ."_

**Author's Note:**

> admittedly a good 80% of the inspiration for this fic came from thinking about the new spider-man movie and how it connected high school life into the greater marvel universe so well and wouldn't it be cool if that happened in runaways too? and i feel like gert would know of a legend like peggy carter, so this happened. 
> 
> please let season 2 be kind to these kids.


End file.
